The 1999 season was the Chicago Bears' 80th in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). On January 24, Dick Jauron was named head coach. The team improved on their 4–12 from 1998, finishing with a 6–10 under Jauron, who replaced

Dave Wannstedt David Wannstedt (born May 21, 1952) is a former American football coach. He has been the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He was also the head coach of the University of Pittsburgh foot ...

. Quarterbacks

Shane Matthews Michael Shane Matthews (born June 1, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for all or part of fourteen seasons during the 1990s and 2000s. He played college footba ...

(1,645),

Cade McNown Cade Brem McNown (born January 12, 1977) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons, most notably with the Chicago Bears. He played college football at UCLA, where he won the ...

(1,465) and Jim Miller (1,242) combined for 4,352 passing yards during the season, the most in franchise history.

Offseason

Organizational changes

Head coach

was fired after the 1998 season, forcing the Bears to hire their second head coach in ten years. The candidates included offensive coordinators

Sherman Lewis Sherman Lewis (born June 29, 1942) is a former American football coach and player. He spent thirty-four years as a coach, but had been out of football since the end of the 2004 season before joining the Washington Redskins mid-way into the 2009 ...

of the Green Bay Packers and Joe Pendry of the Buffalo Bills, defensive coordinators

Dave McGinnis David McGinnis (born August 7, 1951) is a former National Football League (NFL) coach and college player who is the color commentator for the Tennessee Titans Radio Network. He was assistant head coach of the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams from 2012 ...

( Arizona Cardinals),

Dick Jauron Richard Manuel Jauron (born October 7, 1950) is a former American football player and coach. He played eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL), five with the Detroit Lions and three with the Cincinnati Bengals. Jauron served as the he ...

(

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

) and

Gunther Cunningham Gunther Cunningham (June 19, 1946 – May 11, 2019) was an American football head coach. He served as the Kansas City Chiefs head coach for two seasons. He also had two stints as the Chiefs' Defensive Coordinator. He served as an assistant coach ...

(

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

), while DC

Jim Haslett James Donald Haslett (born December 9, 1955) is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the head coach of the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL. He played college football for the IUP Crimson Hawks before being drafted by the Bu ...

( Pittsburgh Steelers) was interviewed.

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

Brian Billick Brian Harold Billick (born February 28, 1954) is an American former football coach and commentator. He was the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings from 1994 to 1998; the team broke the NFL scoring record in the 1998 season. He the ...

and New York Jets DC

Bill Belichick William Stephen Belichick (; born April 16, 1952) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Additionally, he exercises extensive authority over the Patri ...

were also allowed to be interviewed by the team. McGinnis was considered the favorite, and was interviewed last; he would be approached by Bears president

Michael McCaskey Michael Benning McCaskey (December 11, 1943May 16, 2020) was an American sports executive who was the chairman of the Chicago Bears in the National Football League from 1999 until 2011. Biography McCaskey, son of current Bears principal owner Vir ...

for contractual terms, with McGinnis stating he "needed some time and he would think about it." However, the next day, McCaskey scheduled a press conference to announce McGinnis as the head coach, despite not having been officially hired. As a result, the conference was canceled, and Jauron would instead be hired, while McCaskey would be replaced by Ted Phillips.

NFL draft

Staff

Roster

Regular season

Schedule

Standings

References

External links

1999 Chicago Bears
at

Pro-Football-Reference.com Pro-Football-Reference.com is a website providing a variety of statistics for American football. It is one of the few sites that provides information on both active and retired players. The site provides statistics for teams dating back to 1920. ...

Chicago Bears Chicago Bears seasons Chicago Bears 1990s in Chicago 1999 in Illinois {{ChicagoBears-season-stub